


One Caress

by Tiofrean



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: A Pinch of Angst, A sprinkle of fluff, Anal Fingering, Boys In Love, D/s if you squint, Established Relationship, Exhibitionism If You Squint Very Hard And Through Flared Lenses, Frottage, Hand Jobs, M/M, Post-Terminus, Pre-Alexandria Safe-Zone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-24 00:30:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7486179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiofrean/pseuds/Tiofrean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick has problems falling asleep, constantly thinking about the safety of their family. Daryl, thankfully, knows how to help him relax... All Rick has to do is to keep quiet, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Caress

It was like every other time they shacked up for the night. A small suburban house, their whole family inside, tucked up and asleep. All of them except Abraham, Rick and Daryl, the redhead preparing to take the watch after Daryl was done with his shift.

Rick shifted around under his blanket, the thin mattress not enough to keep him from feeling the hard floor underneath. He adjusted the backpack he had put under his head in lieu of a proper pillow and sighed softly. He could hear Abe getting up and making his way through the living room they were all jammed in, trying no to step on anyone’s hand or leg, doing his damndest not to make the floor squeak as he took step after tentative step. Rick opened his eyes and saw Abe’s huge figure traveling through the room, aiming for the house’s entrance. Abraham casted one last glance behind his back when he had finally gotten to the door, making sure he didn’t wake anyone, before opening it and stepping outside.

Rick followed his gaze, noting with satisfaction that everyone was indeed asleep. For once they had full bellies and a late morning to look forward to, and the leader was pleased when he realized that. A small vacation taken out of the apocalyptic nightmare their life had become. If only his brain could shut up for that one night, too, he would call himself a happy man. It was hard not to overanalyze everything, especially when he had a bunch of people he cared so much about trudging after him. If the way the apocalypse tired people out could be measured, Rick would be way past the scale labeled ‘exhausted’. But, as he reckoned, there were no meters to show just how mentally and physically tired he was… how tired they all were.

There was a quiet squeak of the hinges and a rustle somewhere in the dark. He knew it was Daryl before the hunter even had the chance to lower himself on Rick’s mattress. As soon as Daryl was done with sneaking beneath the blanket and settling down beside him, Rick turned around and pressed close to him, laying his head on Daryl’s shoulder. It was comfortable, Daryl’s watch-chilled body slowly warming up under his fingertips, his steady breathing calming and reassuring to Rick’s ears. It would be heaven, if not for Rick’s brain that just wouldn’t stop overanalyzing _everything_.

He huffed out in irritation and climbed a bit higher, hiding his face in the crook of Daryl’s neck, pressing his nose to the steady heartbeat thudding just under Daryl’s skin.  
“Ya okay?” Daryl asked on a whisper, both of his strong arms wrapping around Rick’s form, keeping him in place, giving him a chance to relax a little. Rick shook his head in negative, not really feeling okay, despite Daryl’s strong and capable hands keeping him securely tucked away from the whole world. Their family was safe, they made sure of it, but Rick’s mind came back to the issue of safety over and over again, anyway. Safety, food, shelter… again and again, like a recording stuck in place, the vinyl surface worn scratchy by the needle.

“Yer thinkin’ too much” Daryl’s rough whisper informed him, and Rick had to agree. He knew that, but the knowledge was not enough to break the vicious circle he had gotten himself into. If anyone could break that circle it was Daryl, and so, Rick brought his hand up, settling it on Daryl’s other shoulder and squeezing, holding on and asking his lover wordlessly to do something. Daryl got the request in a blink of an eye, as always when it came to Rick. He started to draw small circles over Rick’s back, trying to relax him a bit, to get him to feel safe enough to pull back a little so that Daryl could look at him. But the slow, delicate touch wasn’t insistent, it wasn’t _making_ Rick look up at Daryl as much as reassuring him it was okay, letting him know that Daryl had him.

It took the leader a longer moment, but eventually he shifted, looking up at Daryl, searching his face for something. Daryl didn’t know what Rick was looking for, but whatever it was, he must have found it. A moment later, when Daryl leaned down and pressed their lips together in a soft kiss, Rick returned it wholeheartedly, diving into it with abandon fitting a starved man.

Rick always kissed with all his feelings laid bare to Daryl. Back when Lori had still been with them, Daryl sometimes wondered if Rick was too shy to kiss her properly. All of them would catch glimpses of their passing kisses, sometimes a peck to the cheek, sometimes a quick press of lips. But they had never kissed like a married people should. Daryl had thought that it had been Rick’s honorable nature keeping him from putting on a show for their whole family.

Much later, when Daryl had somehow gotten together with Rick, the hunter realized it hadn’t been Rick’s honorable nature, but rather his disinterest in kissing his wife. Their leader had been just going through motions with Lori, because once he had settled his heart and mind on Daryl, the kisses they shared were all fire and passion, even the ones that only involved the soft touch of their lips, not tongues and teeth clashing together.

Even now, lying in the same room as the rest of their family, even if they were in the farthest corner of it to maintain some privacy, Daryl tried to be considerate and keep quiet. Rick, on the other hand, kissed him like he always did - with grabbing hands, groaning quietly, pressing his whole body into Daryl’s as if he tried to merge with him.  
“Shhhh” Daryl shushed him, breaking the kiss and sensing the incoming groan of protest. He rolled to his side, facing Rick, watching as the leader took in a shaky breath and looked around, making sure everyone was still asleep.

When Rick’s eyes settled back on him, Daryl was reminded once again about just how much he loved Rick. He would do anything for the man, no matter what the request would be, Daryl would fulfill it in a heartbeat. He pressed their lips together again, hungrily licking into Rick’s mouth, swallowing the groans that tried to escape. He let his hands travel down the hard planes of Rick’s body, grabbing his ass and bringing their hips closer together.  
“Daryl…” Rick whispered with a sharp inhale when he felt Daryl’s cock pressing into his own, noticeable even through all the layers separating them. And then Daryl was shushing him again while unfastening his trousers, the soft sound of the zipper sliding down loud in the silence around them.

But Daryl didn’t reach inside when he opened Rick’s trousers, opting instead to press his hand to the waistband of his boxers. Rick hummed quietly when he felt Daryl’s rough palm rubbing softly over his belly, spreading warmth through his body. The soft caress seemed to melt Rick’s brain somewhere along the way and he found himself relaxing further, turning on his back and letting Daryl prop himself on one hand and hover over him, their mouths still locked in a kiss that was slowly but surely setting Rick’s nerves on fire.

“Oh god…” Rick whispered when Daryl raked his nails through the fine hair on his happy trail, quickly going back to rubbing the skin to soothe the scratch, before he did it again.  
“Quiet” Daryl reminded, looking down at Rick, fingers dancing just over the hem of his boxers. Rick nodded, licking his lips and locking his gaze with him. His mouth fell open on a silent pant a moment later, when Daryl’s hand slipped inside, grabbing Rick’s curls with just the tips of his fingers and tugging gently. It made Rick’s cock throb where it was still squeezed inside his boxers and he reached down to pull them off, but Daryl beat him to it.

Sure, big hands tugged his pants and underwear down, just low enough to give Daryl some room to work, and Rick found his legs effectively immobilized as the result, the denim holding his thighs close together. He wanted to complain, to take them off completely, but then Daryl was kissing him again, swallowing any sound he made when he felt one strong hand wrap around his cock. Daryl gave him a few luxurious strokes, root to tip, making Rick’s hips buck in his grasp. Daryl’s fingers went exploring, leaving his length and traveling lower, cupping his balls gently and rolling them around, making him shiver and break the kiss.

“Jesus, Daryl…” Rick mouthed silently, but the hunter got it nevertheless. He let the corners of his mouth quirk up as he dove down, pressing his smile into Rick’s neck. The reaction he caused in Rick every time they were together made him so happy he always ended up smiling like a fool. _Figure that_.

Rick panted and gasped as Daryl’s hand dipped even lower, and he cursed quietly when the trousers bunched up around his thighs stopped him from moving his legs apart and giving Daryl the full access. Daryl must have sensed his quiet frustration, or maybe he got the hint from how Rick’s dick was steadily leaking more and more, but whatever it was, it made Daryl change his tactics a bit.  
“Turn around” he whispered straight into Rick’s ear, licking a scorching line up his throat and biting at the earlobe, earning a muffled groan that went straight to his own cock. Whatever protests Rick might have had about facing his sleeping family with his dick out in the open died when he felt Daryl reach down and adjust his own length, still trapped inside his baggy trousers.

Trying to be as silent as possible, Rick turned around and pressed his back against Daryl’s chest, not even fighting the smile that made its way to his lips when the blanket that must have slipped away sometime ago had been tugged back around the both of them, effectively hiding what they were doing. Daryl hummed quietly and slipped one hand under Rick’s waist, reaching around and grabbing his hard length. He didn’t move it at all, he just wrapped it around Rick’s cock and held it, making Rick frown in confusion. Then, there was a quiet “shhh…” rasped into the sensitive skin of Rick’s neck and Daryl’s other hand sneaked down to his ass.

“ _Daryl?_ ” Rick knew they couldn’t go all the way, not with their whole group snoring a few feet away, not with how _loud_ they both liked to be. But Daryl just hummed quietly and started to rub his hand over Rick’s ass, the hand around Rick’s cock moving just the tiniest bit, too loose to provide any friction.  
“Found somethin’ today” Daryl whispered and the hands disappeared for a moment, leaving Rick half-turning before his ears caught a sound of a bottle popping open somewhere behind him. He didn’t even have enough time to process the information before Daryl’s hands were back on him, both _wet_ and insistent, one wrapping around his cock and the other palming at his ass.

He moaned before he managed to catch himself, hiding his face in the pillow at the last moment to stifle the sound. Rick knew just how much Daryl loved his ass, his _fuzzy_ ass, as it was, and feeling him spread way too much lube all over it, drawing his fingers through the dusting of hair on the soft skin and making an absolute mess of it was all just too much. Rick could feel his cheeks positively glowing and it was a small mercy the night was dark and without the moon anywhere to be seen. When Daryl’s fingers brushed between his cheeks, Rick tried to part his legs, but to no avail - the trousers bunched up had shifted down a bit when he had been rolling around and were now hugging his knees, but they still gave him too little space to move.

Daryl pressed his mouth to the nape of Rick’s neck, placing little biting kisses just under his hairline, making Rick shiver and twitch. The added constraint of the denim tying his legs together only served to fuel up Rick’s arousal and he had to bite his lip hard not to make a sound as his hips jerked between Daryl’s hands. The fingers slowly but surely traveled to his opening, one of them slipping inside and even though the angle was awkward as hell, Rick’s position forced his muscles to squeeze around the invading digits. He moaned quietly when the finger pushed in deeper, rubbing at his walls and driving him out of his head.

“ _Shut up_ ” Daryl huffed behind him, but there was a smile in his voice, and Rick never wanted to kiss him more than in that moment. He turned his head back, blindly searching for his hunter in the darkness and sighed when Daryl leaned in and joined their mouths together. It was a smart move, as in the next moment Daryl’s searching finger plunged even deeper inside and found Rick’s sweet spot and Rick was sure he wouldn’t be able to stop the sound that escaped him if his life depended on it. Thank god there was Daryl, as always making sure he didn’t screw up.

Daryl rubbed at the same place again and again, and Rick’s whole body arched back, their mouths breaking apart as he panted silently, focusing on not crying his pleasure out. The second finger soon appeared, slowly sneaking its way inside him and, fuck, but it was a _tight_ fit like this. It wasn’t painful, far from it, but it was felt so snug that it sent little sparks of pleasure shooting down Rick’s spine. He closed his eyes, overwhelmed, letting Daryl work him to completion. The hand on his cock, rather loose and teasing till now, squeezed around him, stroking him in quick, sure moves.

He was steadily heading to the edge, Daryl handling his body like if he was the hunter’s crossbow, drawing the string back and pointing it, squeezing the trigger and letting it release. Rick had a brief moment of clarity when he brought his fist to his mouth, biting down on the knuckles so hard he was sure there will be bruises come morning. In the next moment Daryl scraped his teeth over Rick’s neck, thumbing over the little slit on the tip of his cock _just right,_ and Rick lost it. He came with a low whine, trying to muffle it in his hand as Daryl kept moving his hands on and in his body, milking the last drops of Rick’s release and leaving him breathless.

Once he sagged back against Daryl’s broad chest, his own breathing erratic as he tried to gulp in the much needed air, he could feel Daryl’s hands withdrawing, fingers leaving him empty and slick, the hand on his length shifting to wrap around his waist and tug him back. He heard the sound of the zipper being lowered, the rustle of clothing as Daryl drew himself out and the quiet growl rumbling out of Daryl’s chest and reverberating all the way through Rick’s. There was a few seconds when Daryl’s hand palmed at Rick’s ass again, spreading the lube messily over his cheeks, before his hot length pressed between them, rubbing from Rick’s opening up to his tailbone.

Daryl’s hands grabbed Rick by his hipbones to hold him still, as the archer rutted against him, panting into Rick’s ear, groaning quietly every few thrusts. Rick arched his back, pushing back as much as he could in his current position, one hand sneaking back and over Daryl’s hips to grab at his ass. He hissed when Rick hit his mark and squeezed, trying to pull him even closer. The sound of Daryl’s barely contained groans, smothered in Rick’s shoulder was enough to make him wish they had somewhere private to do this, somewhere he could lay Daryl out on a bed and properly devour him, listening to all those delightful noises in full volume.

As it was they were in a room stocked full of their family and they had to be quiet and quick. Rick grabbed the hand that was still wrapped around his waist and brought it up. He slowly licked Daryl’s fingers, chasing the taste of his own release on Daryl’s rough skin, before he wrapped his lips around the first two. Daryl’s hips stuttered in their mindless rutting and Rick started to lick them clean, giving them a few hard sucks for good measure.

The quiet moan stifled in Rick’s shirt was almost painful and Rick could feel Daryl’s hot release splash on his lower back as he thrust against him erratically a few times more, the hand holding onto Rick’s hips clawing at the delicate skin, no doubt leaving red marks in its wake. The silence that fell around them was disturbed only by Daryl’s heavy breathing and the quiet slick noise of Rick’s tongue slipping between Daryl’s fingers.

Sometime later, when they managed to calm down and clean up with Daryl’s ever-present red rag, Rick was almost sure he heard a whisper somewhere at the other end of the room. But Daryl’s arms felt just too good wrapped around him, and the warmth around him was too pleasant to pay attention to such details, and so, after a sweet kiss to his forehead, Rick was falling asleep with his face pressed into Daryl’s neck and both arms around his waist.

He woke up late the next morning, too warm and content to pay attention to the multiple footsteps resounding around them as their group woke up and left the little house to start a new day. For once they had the luxury of time and Rick was going to use it, snuggling deeper under the blankets and enjoying the sleepy hum he got in return as Daryl adjusted his position.

It was only much later in the afternoon when Rick started to think about how quiet the morning had been, how _normal_. He half-expected someone to say something about their activities the last night, for Rick was sure they weren’t that quiet after all. But, whether it was that nobody heard anything, or maybe they did but didn’t care because everyone did _something_ in the dark, no one said a word. What Rick didn’t know was that since early morning, Daryl had been glaring daggers at everyone over the top of Rick’s messy curls, both arms hugging Rick close to him, silently daring anyone to say anything.


End file.
